June 17 (Bloomberg) -- A route with a view led the way to
the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Saturday evening.

In the woods of Becket, Massachusetts, the largest gala
audience since 2007 kicked off the festival’s 81st season with
cocktails in Blake’s Barn, performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre
-- equipped with comfortable new seats -- and a tent-sheltered
dinner prepared by Peter Platt of the Old Inn on the Green.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick attended as the
gathering marked the re-awakening of culture in the Berkshire
Hills for the next few months. Tanglewood opens, and Wilco
curates a festival at MASS MoCA next weekend. The Clark Art
Institute has a Winslow Homer exhibition, and Patricia Clarkson
will play Zelda Fitzgerald at Williamstown Theatre Festival on
July 1.

At Jacob’s Pillow on Saturday the biggest star on stage was
New York City Ballet principal Wendy Whelan, who performed with
Martha Graham Dance Company soloist Lloyd Knight in Graham’s
“Moon.” This was a hint of the contemporary duets Whelan is
creating for the Pillow with dancer/choreographers including
Kyle Abraham and Alejandro Cerrudo, to be presented in mid-August.

“Alejandro and I will be working tomorrow, stop by,” said
Whelan, capturing the informal spirit of the festival.

When Executive and Artistic Director Ella Baff announced
that the students of Jacob’s Pillow had learned their dance in
just four days -- starting the day they arrived -- the audience
gasped.

Dance Variations

Dance Theatre of Harlem offered a “Swan Lake” pas de deux
performed by Michaela DePrince and Samuel Wilson. The company is
in residence at the Pillow June 19-23.

“It’s amazing to watch all the different types of dance,”
said Chet Walker, the choreographer of the Tony-winning revival
of “Pippin,” who directs the Jazz/Musical Theatre Dance
program at Jacob’s Pillow.

Tap dancer and choreographer Michelle Dorrance, recipient
of $25,000 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, performed for a bit with
the stage dark, to emphasize her view of her art form as music.
A choral group joined her as the back wall of the stage opened
to a bright green forest.

“This place is dance heaven: for the dancers, for the
people watching, for the students who come from all over the
world to study here, and for the people who want to create
dance,” said Christopher Jones, chief investment officer of the
growth-and-small-cap-U.S.-equity team at J.P.Morgan Asset
Management.

Jones served as a gala chairman along with Mark Leavitt,
managing director and global head of technology, media and
telecommunications investment banking at Piper Jaffray Cos. They
helped the event raise $411,000, with 471 guests attending,
including the founders of Alex Toys Inc., Nurit and Rick Amdur,
who three weeks ago sold their company to Propel Equity
Partners.

“Tonight is about giving back,” said Leavitt, president
of the Jacob’s Pillow board.

“It’s also so much fun,” said his wife, Taryn Leavitt, a
jewelry designer, before sweeping her husband onto the dance
floor. At this party, everyone danced.

(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the
arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions
expressed are her own.)